Jeff Rowland Aeris vs Ayre QX-5 Twenty

I never owned any Rowland gear, but I have owned both Codex and the QX-5 Twenty. The the QX-5 is way better than Codex. By a huge margin. 

I have the QB9 Twenty and am thrilled with the upgrade from it's earlier incarnations. Then I bought a Bryston BDP Pi and that was a giant leap forward from when I was using a MacMini. So my thought is that the Ayre will definitely deliver but I can't compare it, as I haven't heard the Rowland. I'm rather curious as to why there aren't more hybrid tube DACs on the market.

Too bad no comparisons here, it looks like it would be a great shootout :-)

The QX-5 Twenty is not only a superb DAC, it’s Roon-ready. In my setup I just select the music I want to hear using my iMac, and that starts up the QX-5, KX-5 Twenty preamp, and VX-5 Twenty amp via AyreLink. Couldn’t be more convenient.

Kind of looking like there are more Ayre owners out there. I love the look of the Rowland... and it has been a while... but there equipment in the past has been really outstanding.